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October 23, 2015

Difference Between Republicans and Democrats Perfectly Expressed

Hillary Rodham Clinton and former president Bill Clinton earned in excess of $25 million for delivering 104 speeches since the beginning of 2014, a huge infusion to their net worth as she was readying for a presidential bid.

The Clintons revealed their recent income as paid speakers and other aspects of their personal finances in disclosure forms filed with the Federal Election Commission on Friday.

Hillary Clinton also earned more than $5 million in royalties for her book, “Hard Choices,” which was released in June.

One of her Republican rivals for the presidency, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, also filed his financial information Friday, revealing a far more modest portfolio. It showed that last year he cashed out his retirement accounts, which were worth between $60,000 and $195,000; a campaign spokesman declined to comment on why. Rubio and his wife hold at least $450,000 in home mortgage debt.

Clinton has tripped politically in addressing her personal wealth, drawing criticism last year for indicating she and her husband were “dead broke” when his term as president concluded in 2001. Though saddled with debt because of legal fees arising from various White House scandals, Bill Clinton’s memoirs and frenetic speaking schedule quickly lifted the couple into the ranks of the uber-wealthy.

During the 11 years Hillary Clinton served as a U.S. senator and then secretary of state, she reported that her husband made $105 million for delivering more than 540 speeches. Bill Clinton’s fees rose over time. In 2012, her last year at the State Department, he earned more than $16.3 million for 72 speeches.

Until Friday’s financial disclosure filing, there had not been a complete picture of which groups she addressed on the speaking circuit or how much she made.

According to the disclosure, Hillary Clinton delivered 51 speeches in 2014 and the first three months of 2015, earning more than $11 million. Her fees varied, but she earned as much as $315,000 for speaking to eBay in San Jose on March 11; she also collected $325,000 for speaking to the technology company Cisco in Las Vegas in August.

After she left her post, Hillary Clinton’s huge speaking fees at times attracted criticism. In particular, she charged as much as $300,000 to speak at public universities, though she generally donated the funds to Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation. Those engagements are not reflected among the new disclosures, since they did not provide Clinton with personal income.

Her earnings drew immediate rebuke from Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who termed the haul “staggering” and said it showed how “out-of-touch [the Clintons have] truly become.”

The new information covers a period beginning in January 2014 and shows the Clintons were paid about $250,000 every time they spoke. She has not been required to release any details about what she earned in the 2013 calendar year after she leftthe State Department.

Now that she is running for president, Hillary Clinton has stopped giving paid speeches. But Bill Clinton said this month that he intends to continue to collect speaking fees, even as his wife campaigns.